Bush vs. Mother Nature

The Bush administration is proposing a major change in the way the federal government decides whether wildlife and plants deserve protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Critics say the move, which is subject to a 30-day comment period before it can be put into effect, would dramatically weaken what has long been seen as a crucial law saving plants, animals, birds and fish from extinction.

The Interior Department unveiled a plan under which independent scientific reviews, which for three decades have been required to determine the protection status of potentially endangered species, would be eliminated. Instead, individual federal agencies would determine whether protected species would be imperiled by agency projects.